Differences of ADDIE and UBD

The Addie model utilizes five stages for implementation of the model: Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate. It is mostly used in military, industrial, or large group settings with a pre-determined level of knowledge. Its unique acronym makes it easy for educators to remember and apply the five stages. One great thing about ADDIE is that it addresses problems of practice. In the classroom, lessons need to provide much great detail, formative and summative evaluation.
While the ADDIE model has five stages, there are also steps within each stage to consider. Example: In the design phase of the ADDIE model, there are five considerations: (1) what are your objectives, (2) what skills, knowledge and attitudes are you trying to develop, (3) what resources and strategies will you use in your instruction, (4) how will you structure the content of your learning material, and (5) how will you assess the learner's understanding and whether or not they have met the objectives of the instruction. The producers of a given learning product are not necessarily the teachers who will be using it for instruction. Studies have shown that ADDIE helps narrow the gap between desired outcomes and actual outcomes by creating a blueprint to guide the creation of a project. It can be implemented in many educational and business settings. Since the ADDIE model provides more flexibility, and can be applied in the business world, so therefore, the implementation does not have to follow state or local standards. Yet, it could limit its effectiveness in some areas such as the use of collaboration among other teachers or business professionals. There are some negatives to this model, due to it not having a frame work to keep the audience’s attention, to be organized, or to tailor the instruction.
The ADDIE model places a lot of emphasis on the tools and the technology that will be used in the course. In the Understanding by Design model, these details are not included. There is more of a focus on instruction. Evaluating and revising are constantly being done. ADDIE's Evaluation step flows naturally back into its Analysis step. ADDIE is more detailed. In the Analyze stage many questions need to be answered before progressing forward. Keep in mind, that overall this could make the following stages easier to plan. ADDIE also addresses possible problems in each phase. It also provides more evidence of assessments and evaluation. This is the key to helping give important feedback to students. The key word here is "evaluate" each individual student. Once each student is evaluated, the teacher can determine what needs to be or no longer taught in the classroom.

ADDIE involves A LOT of detailed planning and has many stages:
Stage 1 Analysis- What are the goals, objectives, method of delivery, restrictions, prior knowledge? etc.
Stage 2 Design- The information from the analysis stage is used to design the instruction that will be used.
Stage 3 Development- In this stage, the actual activities and learning materials are created.
Stage 4 Implementation- In this stage, both the teacher and learner are trained on how to implement the project.
Stage 5 Evaluation- In this stage, it is very critical to make sure that both the learning processes and materials are evaluated to determine its effectiveness. This stage could determine whether or not adjustments need to be made.
Also, the ADDIE model consists of five definable steps that are easy to follow--step-by-step. The model of lesson development seems to place more of an emphasis on the use of technology than the UBD model. The model lessons are usually developed by teams and then implemented by a facilitator or instructor. So keep in mind that here we are talking about large groups of learners typically not in a school setting. It entails the idea that, designing instructional material or strategies will need to follow several steps in order to achieve higher order cognition. By following the steps, the intended outcomes will result. The following steps are (A) analysis, (D) design, (D) development, (I) implementation, and (E) evaluation.
ADDIE focuses on being systematic and specific and places an emphasis on the organization throughout the design and evaluation process. Three different areas are focused on: analyzing needs, outcomes, and instructional tasks. During the design process, evaluation in the form of formative and summative assessments, and achievement is emphasized. It seems to be the more detailed of the two models and focuses on a needs assessment, to determine what ”needs” to be done in order to close the achievement gap. Due to this focus, it can be applied to a variety of settings including business and education. One of the big assumptions when using ADDIE is that achievement gaps will be addressed. ADDIE has a more compartmentalized approach to instructional design. The specificity of the model can aid in identifying weaknesses or strengths of the elements involved in implementing the instructional design. It uses both the formative and summative evaluations whereby, the process occurs throughout all the phases. With ADDIE there is a separate step for designing and developing the project. Finally, with ADDIE the model provides a step-by-step process in planning and creating instruction materials.


The UBD model utilizes three stages for implementation of the model: Stage1- Desired Results, Stage2- Assessment Evidence and Stage3- Learning Plan. It is mostly used in elementary and secondary schools. It is also used in small group settings with people who may or may not have the same level of knowledge. Unpacking standards includes the implementation of essential questions as a part of the analysis process to probe students' comprehension and prior knowledge. “Backwards Design” lessons and activities are structured and designed in ways that lead the student to the end result.
Understanding By Design mentions improving student achievement through standards-driven curriculum development. Curriculum development and standards are the focus whereby goals and objectives follow an established curriculum. Teachers and administrators are constantly and frequently assessing and also adjusting curriculum and instruction, based on the student’s performance, result’s and outcome’s. During a class period, different students may be working on completely different tasks. Students are strongly encouraged to choose the questions or topics they wish to study. These questions and topics are supported as long as they are within the teacher's instruction. UBD incorporates the WHERETO framework.
W Where the unit/lesson is going.
H Hooking and Holding their Interest
E Equipping students so they can explore and experience
R Providing changes to Revise and Rethinkl
E Letting students Evaluate
T Tailoring instruction to students needs
O Being Organized
Understanding by Design teaches the understanding of the curriculum standards by limiting the number of standards if necessary to obtain authentic intellectual work that involves original applications of knowledge and skills. It also emphasizes “team” collaboration between teachers to access the design strategy and how to improve the design through the means of data collection of summative and formative assessments, observing students, essential questions, and questioning the students for high order thinking skills. UBD takes a big-picture approach. It is more theoretical than the ADDIE model and emphasizes learning for long-term understanding and transfer of knowledge to other subject matter. It also emphasizes opportunities for students to "explain, interpret, apply, shift perspective, empathize, and self-asses.," All of those opportunities are supposed to help students demonstrate what they've learned. The “Backward designs” starts with the assessments and works backward to plan the learning targets and instruction. There is more structure in each of the stages. UBD concentrates more on how to use the product. The key word here is "explore." When exploring, valuable steps must be taken to teach the students how to correctly use a website or websites. A greater emphasis must be placed on allowing students to explore, organize, connect, process, and apply. In elementary and secondary schools, teachers can develop meaningful lessons for shorter amounts of time with minimal support. UBD implements a "backward planning" process similar to that used in the military decision making process. This process starts with the teacher looking for desired outcomes as the lesson is developed. UBD seems to be a more intricate process. This gives rise to the reasons we see this method used in K12 schooling where groups tend to have similar knowledge. Understanding by Design offers a three-stage "backward planning" curriculum design process anchored by a unit design template, a set of design standards with attendant rubrics and a comprehensive training package to help teachers design, edit, critique, peer- review, share, and improve their lessons and assessments. The model focuses on using authentic pedagogy, higher critical knowledge and assessments in order to increase achievement for both low and high-achieving students. It is very critical that the UBD model focuses much more on the bigger picture and less on the specifics.
The UBD model seems to focus more on the learning experience and how the learner will apply the newly acquired information to the "big picture". UBD also places more emphasis on collecting evidence to show that the learner has met the outcomes/learning experiences of the project. It also uses the WHERETO framework as a method for planning learning experiences. UBD is really intended for an educational setting. UBD uses curriculum and content standards to determine what students will know or be able to do after instruction. It combines the analysis, design and implementation into a more synthesized approach. UBD appears to place emphasis on the accepted methods of feedback before establishing the learning focus of the instructional design. With UBD, students evaluate their own work and thinking. What is very important is that teh model combines the steps for designing the blueprint and developing the instruction into one step. Finally, with UB, it is what the learner should "know and be able to do.